LARIMER COUNTY | OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT P.O. Box 1190, Fort Collins, Colorado 80522-1190, 970.498.7010, Larimer.org LARIMER COUNTY EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER SITUATION REPORT This report is intended to provide information and status in quickly evolving situations and is subject to change. This report can be shared publicly. INCIDENT INFORMATION: REPORT SUBMITTED BY: Lori R. Hodges, EOC Manager REPORT DATE/TIME: 10/3/2020 1200 MST EOC ACTIVATIONS: Larimer County (with the assistance of Fort Collins) - Level I (All Hands) (All personnel virtual due to COVID-19) DECLARATIONS/DELEGATIONS: Larimer County signed a local Disaster Declaration on August 18, 2020 which was extended on 9/15/2020 by the Board of Commissioners until October 31, 2020. The Governor verbally declared a Disaster Emergency on August 18, 2020 for multiple fires in Colorado, including the Cameron Peak Fire and signed an Executive Order on September 16, 2020. The Governor signed a second Executive Order on the same day extending the disaster declaration until October 16, 2020. Larimer County received approval from FEMA for a Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) declaration on 9/7/2020. The Fire was delegated to the Division of Fire Prevention and Control (DFPC) as of midnight on 9/6/2020 for the county and state lands. The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) is in charge of federal lands. SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has issued an Air Quality Alert for Larimer County until 4pm today (10/3). Areas of moderate to heavy smoke have moved into the Front Range once again and are expected to continue through at least this afternoon due to increased activity on the Cameron Peak and Mullen wildfires. Smoke impacts are expected to be greatest in Larimer County including Fort Collins, with additional impacts in other areas of the northern Colorado Front Range including Greeley, Longmont, Boulder, and the Denver Metro area. COUNTY STATUS: Larimer County is currently under a fire ban that went into effect at 1200 hours 8/18/2020. That fire ban was extended until October 31, 2020 by the Board of Commissioners at their regularly scheduled meeting on 9/15. https://www.larimer.org/spotlights/2020/08/18/larimer-county-open-fire-ban-effect Governor Polis has issued a 30-day open fire ban for the State of Colorado, starting 8/20/2020. He extended the fire ban on 9/9/2020 for an additional 30 days. Fire restrictions for each county can be found at: https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/dfpc/fire-restriction-information The USFS updated closures for the Forest on 9/7/2020. The Canyon Lakes Ranger District updated closures on their lands on 10/2/2020 due to fire activity on both the Cameron Peak Fire and the Mullen Fire. The closure order on the Canyon Lakes Ranger District of the Roosevelt National Forest expanded to the north. The general area now closed is all National Forest System lands west of the National Forest boundary (except the lower Poudre Canyon); east of the Colorado State Forest State Park; south of the Colorado state line; and north of Rocky Mountain Park. Updated closures can be found at: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/closures/6964/ Rocky Mountain National Park implemented park closures on 9/6/2020. Additional details below. More information can be found at: https://www.nps.gov/romo/learn/fire-information-and-regulations.htm CURRENT FIRE SITUATION: SUMMARY: The Cameron Peak Fire ignited on August 13th in the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests near Cameron Pass and Chambers Lake. The fire is burning in heavy timber over rugged terrain. Hot, dry, windy weather, combined with critically dry fuels has been driving fire growth. Cause for fire remains under investigation. The Pacific Northwest Team 6 assumed command of the fire on 9/29/2020. The Mullen Fire ignited on Thursday, September 17, 2020 in the Savage Run Wilderness and is burning in the Medicine Bow National Forest, southwest of Centennial in Wyoming. The fire spread rapidly in extremely rugged terrain, with dense vegetation and beetle-killed deadfall. Cause for fire remains under investigation. The Rocky Mountain Blue Team assumed command of the fire two weeks ago and is expected to transition out on Tuesday (10/6) with a Type 1 Team. Larimer County OEM received notification of the Cameron Peak Fire at approximately 1445 on 8/13/2020 and activated to support the incident. Larimer County OEM received notification on 9/30/2020 that the Mullen Fire had reached the Colorado State Line and had burned into Jackson County near the Larimer County border. The fire had not reached Larimer County at the time of this report. The EOC is activated at a Level I to support both incident operations. EOC remains 100% virtual due to COVID-19. CURRENT STATUS: The Cameron Peak Fire is currently 125,598 acres with 38% containment at the time of this report. Temperatures will be about three degree cooler today with humidity expected to hold in the 20-30% range. Winds will be lighter from the northwest to north with gusts to around 20 mph. A northwest flow aloft pattern starts to break down Sunday signaling warmer and drier conditions tomorrow and into next week. Smoke from the Mullen Fire is expected to help moderate fire behavior again today. Firefighters plan to take advantage of these conditions to construct fireline directly adjacent to the fire wherever it is possible and safe to do so. A large contingent of structural firefighters continue to mop up around homes within the fire perimeter and adjacent to it. 866 firefighters are now working on this fire.866 firefighters are now working on this fire. The Mullen Fire is now 136,840 acres. This morning, the Mullen Fire is now 6% contained, on two sections of the fire perimeter: The west flank south of A Bar A ranch, and the east flank where the Mullen Fire met the Squirrel Creek Fire burn area. Yesterday’s firing operations successfully defended a group of structures in the Pelton Creek drainage and expanded the defensive line along the north sides of Colorado Hwy 127 and Colorado Hwy 125. Firefighters quickly suppressed several spot fires on the south flank, guided by real-time aerial infrared imagery from an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS, or “drone”). When conditions are favorable today, firefighters will continue firing operations to extend control lines. 1,057 personnel are assigned to the effort to slow the fire’s spread while also protecting values at risk all over the fire area. For real-time info about road closures and road conditions for the Mullen Fire, see the Wyoming Travel Information Map at https://map.wyoroad.info/wtimap/. As the Mullen Fire burned onto the Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forest, the Forest expanded the closure area to cover both fires. Current forest closures can be found at: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/closures/6964/ LARIMER COUNTY EOC OBJECTIVES: 1. Provide for the health and safety of all staff and community members through continuation of work/rest procedures, sheltering and housing, resource support, and information dissemination. 2. Continue to provide support to Incident Management Teams and LCSO through situational awareness, credentialing, logistical support, and consequence management planning. 3. Continue damage assessments for all structures within the fire area as it is safe to do so, provide notifications to residents and provide situational updates for partner agencies to support impacted residents. 4. Continue to build out the recovery infrastructure for short and long term recovery needs including re- entry operations, debris management, infrastructure assessments, community recovery, and flood- after-fire scenarios. The Larimer EOC remains activated at a Level I due to incident complexity and additional fire growth on both the Cameron Peak Fire and the Mullen Fire. The Larimer EOC has been activated at some level for over six months due to a combination of incidents. Staff safety and health is a primary consideration. The growth of the Mullen Fire into Colorado added complexity and a further drain on available local resources. Additionally, the EOC is supporting the LCSO with logistics for the large search in north central Larimer County for a 12-year old male. All ESFs are activated and EOC personnel continue to coordinate activities as required for active incidents and community support. EOC Staff is regularly reminded to rest, take breaks and transition positions to avoid burnout or illness. The American Red Cross, Humane Society, the Sheriff’s Posse and the Horseman’s Association remain busy with evacuated people and animals in both Colorado and Wyoming for both fires. The EOC Operations Section continues to support affected residents with access concerns, specifically for those with life safety needs or insurance claims. Larimer OEM met with State of Colorado staff and Red Cross staff yesterday to continue work for FEMA approval of non-congregate sheltering operations to provide financial support to the Red Cross for the current large-scale sheltering operation. Additionally, the EOC Manager and the Damage Assessment Team met yesterday to go over process improvements and a safety protocol for staff entering hazard areas. Credentials for mandatory evacuation areas are being offered today, October 3rd, from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm, at the Fort Collins City Hall, 300 Laporte Avenue. More information is available at https://bit.ly/2HAqTtN. The Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) Team is finalizing the BAER report and plans to send it for approval on Monday to begin the approval process. Phase 2 will need to be added for the expansion of the fire on 9/25-9/26/2020. This report will provide the USFS and all partners with valuable data on current risk areas, burn severity and possible mitigation treatments within the fire area.